How to Blind Bake Pastry

Once a flan tin or ring has been lined you may wish to bake it unfilled (baking blind), to then fill later with a cold filling or one which requires a lower cooking temperature. It is always best, if time allows, to chill the unbaked flan in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes before baking blind.

Take a large piece of silicone baking or greaseproof paper and pleat it so that you can fit it into the flan tin easily.

Press paper gently into flan case and allow excess to stand up around edges.

Cover base with baking beans or similar. It is possible to buy ceramic baking beans which are re-usable, otherwise use uncooked rice, split peas or similar to weight down the base.

Bake the flan according to recipe instructions, generally the flan is baked for 12-15 minutes then the paper and beans removed and the flan returned to oven to finish baking to a golden brown.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C in a fan oven) Gas mark 4

Cut the potatoes into 1cm chunks and the sweet potato into 1½ cm chunks, place in a pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender and drain.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan, gently sauté the garlic and onion, stir in the curry powder and cook for 3 minutes, remove from heat. Add potatoes, peas and coriander (if using), stir and set aside.

Place a sheet of filo on a clean work surface, brush with melted butter and fold in half lengthways, so you have a long strip.

Place a spoonful (approximately 1/7th) of the filling towards the end of the pastry strip nearest you, slightly on the left of the strip and just up from the bottom. Fold the bottom right hand corner up to cover the filling and make a triangular shape. Fold the triangle up, then fold to the right, fold up and then to the left, so you are keeping a triangular shape. Ensure the points are tucked in to prevent the filling from seeping out.

Brush the completed parcel with melted butter and place on baking tray. Continue with the remaining filling and filo pastry.